1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to portable heating equipment and, in particular, to portable heating equipment that can be used for multiple functions or purposes such as cooking, heating and showering.
2. The Relevant Technology
When camping or conducting other outdoor activities such as backpacking, biking, horseback riding, hunting, rafting, mountain climbing and boating, it is often desirable to have a stove on which to cook and prepare foods, a heater to heat an enclosure, such as a tent, camper, trailer and the like, a shower in which to take a hot shower, and a light source to provide light. These accoutrements, however, are often unavailable in remote locations or difficult to obtain because separate items must be individually transported to the desired location.
Various types of light sources, cooking stoves, heating devices and portable showers are known and can be used while camping, but these devices are often heavy and bulky, which makes them difficult to carry and transport. Additionally, because these are typically individual or single-purpose devices, the user must carry a separate light source, a stove, an air heater and/or a portable shower. Thus, the user must transport numerous devices in order to be able to perform these various tasks. The user, however, will often choose to go without these amenities rather than take all of this equipment because of the difficulty in transporting these devices.
In order to reduce the number of items carried by the user, it is known to have a light source that allows for both lighting and cooking. These known devices, however, require a large amount of space and are generally quite heavy. Additionally, these dual-purpose light source and cooking devices are generally inadequate because the heat source is so small that cooking times are unnecessarily long and it is difficult to adjust the amount of light coming from the light source. Further, the maximum heat provided by these dual-purpose devices is often limited in comparison to conventional cooking stoves, which limits the usefulness of the device as a stove.
One known device for cooking and lighting includes a burner unit that is used as a stove and a completely different unit that is used as a light source. The burner unit and light source unit require special adapters and equipment to convert the light source to a stove or vice versa. Generally, these separate burner units and light source units are attached by a connector to a common fuel source. Thus, this known device allows the same fuel source to be used to provide cooking and lighting functions. However, the only common elements that are used by both the light source and the stove are the fuel source and the connector to the fuel source. Disadvantageously, while this device allows the same fuel source and connection to the fuel source to be used, the user must still transport both the burner unit and the light source unit. Thus, this dual-purpose device still requires a large amount of space and is quite heavy, especially for use in outdoor activities in remote locations, such as camping, biking, climbing and hunting.
It is also known to use a water heater with a portable shower to allow the user to take a hot shower. Conventional portable showers, however, often do not provide adequate hot water. For example, in an attempt to keep such showers small and portable, relatively small heat sources have been used. Unfortunately, these small heat sources are usually not powerful enough to provide the desired supply of hot water. Gas powered devices, which provide a larger heat source, have traditionally not been used because of their size and bulk.
Additionally, conventional portable showers often use gravity to deliver the water to the individual taking a shower. The force of gravity, however, often does not provide adequate water pressure or sufficient force to deliver the water as a fine spray. In addition, gravity powered showers require the user to find a location above the head of the user to place a large reservoir of water, which typically contains about two gallons of water and weighs about twenty pounds. It is often difficult to find a sturdy location to place the reservoir of water, especially when camping in remote or desert locations, and it can be difficult and dangerous to lift the relatively heavy reservoir of water into the desired location. Conventional portable showers have also used pumps to increase water pressure, but these pumps often required a large power source that is heavy and awkward to carry over large distances.
Known portable showers often utilize a large container for holding the water. Typically, the water is heated within the container and a pump or gravity is used to supply the heated water from the container to the user. A significant drawback of these known portable showers is that the amount of hot water is limited by the size of the container. Thus, if more than one person wants to take a shower, they must refill the container with cold water and that water must then be heated. This often takes a significant amount of time, especially if a small heat source is being used. Additionally, these conventional portable showers require all the water in the container to be heated at one time and this requires a substantial amount of heat from the heat source and a large amount of time to heat all the water in the container. Thus, depending upon the size of the heat source and container, it can take up to thirty minutes or more to heat the water in the container for a hot shower. Disadvantageously, the heated water in the container, which is generally poorly insulated or not insulated at all, is constantly losing heat, which increases the time required to heat the water for a hot shower.
Conventional portable showers are often not truly portable because they are heavy, awkward to carry, and include a plurality of parts that must be carefully assembled. In addition, conventional portable showers often require the user to assemble and erect a number of components before the shower can be used. Furthermore, many of these known portable showers are expensive and require complex machinery to heat the water.
It is also known to use solar power for portable showers, but solar heated water is dependent on direct sunlight for heat. Thus, if direct sunlight is not available or if it is a cloudy day, a hot shower is not available. Further, solar heated systems require sunlight for a large portion of the day in order to sufficiently heat the water. Disadvantageously, this often requires the user to stay in one location for an extended period of time while the water is being heated. Another drawback of a solar heated system is that the water container is not insulated which allows a large amount of heat loss. Thus, solar heated systems do not work efficiently in low ambient temperature environments.